Spring group



May 29, 1956 R. B. COTTRELL SPRING GROUP Filed Feb. 23, 1952 (Iii;

IN V EN TOR. Edi/113% kgiiami 33.

United States Patent SPRING GROUP Chicago, Ill., assignor to American Chicago, 11]., a corporation of New Robert B. Cottrell,

Steel Foundries, Jersey This invention relates to package spring groups and more particularly to a novel height restrainer for limiting expansion of the group, as may be desirable to accommodate assembly and disassembly thereof with respect to associated supported and supporting members, such as the bolster and side frame of a railway freight car truck.

Spring groups of this type are well known in the art and generally consist of top and bottom spring plates with a plurality of coil springs compressed therebetween. Frequently a friction device is also interposed between the spring plates in parallel with the coil springs to dampen oscillations thereof.

Such spring groups are generally adapted to be positioned upon the spring seat of a conventional freight car truck side frame and are adapted to afford support for the truck bolster which carries the weight of the car body.

A primary object of the present invention is to devise a novel spring group having readily releasable means for restraining movement of the spring plates apart from each other under the compression of the coil springs, whereby after the spring group has been assembled in supporting relationship with the car body, as above described, the restraining means are released to accommodate automatic or manual movement thereof to inoperative position whereby the coil springs are accommodated full travel during compression and release thereof by oscillation of the car body and truck bolster in service.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a housing at each end of one of the spring plates and to provide elongated members projecting from the other spring plate through openings of the housings in combination with readily releasable members compressible between mutually facing abutments of the housings and elongated members.

In one embodiment of the invention, the releasable height restrainer is automatically acuated to an operative position upon compression of the spring group as, for example, by the weight of the car body; and in another embodiment of the invention the height restrainer is manually actuated to an operative position upon release thereof by compression of the spring group.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of a spring group embodying the invention with the height restrainer in operative position;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 with the height restrainer in inoperative position;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken in a vertical plane bisecting the spring group longitudinally thereof, with the height restrainer shown in elevation;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 3 with the height restrainer in inoperative position;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the height restrainer utilized in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a spring group identical with that shown in Figure l but utilizing a modified height restrainer.

Describing the invention in detail and referring first to the embodiment thereof illustrated in Figures 1 to 5, the spring group comprises top and bottom spring plates 2 and 4, having inturned flanges 6 and 8, respectively, to position a plurality of interposed coil springs 10 which are preferably pre-compressed between the plates 2 and 4. In the illustrated embodiment, only one end of the spring group is shown inasmuch as it is preferably identical at opposite ends thereof.

Each end of the top plate 2 is provided with a projecting wall or ledge 12, which is preferably reinforced by an upstanding arcuate flange 14 merging with the spring positioning flange 6 of the top plate 2. The bottom plate is provided with a downwardly opening housing defined- The underside of Wall 18 constitutes an abutment for a purpose hereinafter described. 7

As best seen in Figure 3, an elongated member, such as a bolt 20, is positioned Within aligned openings 22 and 24 of the walls 12 and 18, respectively, and a head 26 of the bolt is preferably secured to the wall 12, as by welding at 28. The lower end of the bolt is provided with an upwardly facing abutment illustrated in the form of a washer 30 welded to a nut 32, which is threaded on the lower end of the bolt 20 and is welded thereto as at 34, after the spring group has been assembled.

The novel height restrainer is illustrated in detail in Figure 5, and is generally designated 36, said height restrainer comprising a normally substantially straight spring The novel height restrainer also comprises compression members 44, illustrated in the form of dowels secured in any convenient manner to the spring body 38 as, for example, by welding at 46.

Referring again to Figure 1, it will be seen that the height restrainer 36 is interposed between the abutment 18 and the abutment surface on the underside of the wall 30 of the bolt 20. The cotter pin 42 is illustrated in applied position to hold the height restrainer 36 in fully closed position whereat the dowels 44 are confined be- 30 for compression tween the wall 18 and the washer therebetween under the action of the springs 10, upon release of the spring plates 2 and 4 from a clamping force previously applied thereto as, for example, by a jig (not shown) or by the weight of a car body (not shown) resting on the spring group.

Upon installation of the spring group in a railway car truck, the cotter pin 42 is first removed; however, under these conditions, the dowels 44 are compressed between the washer 30 and the wall 18 and are held tightly in that position under the action of the springs 10. After the spring group has been installed in the truck with the weight of the car body supported by the spring group, the springs 10 are further compressed to release the height restrainer 36, whereupon the resilient spring body 38 snaps the dowels 44 into complementary openings or windows 48 of the housing walls 16, as illustrated in Figure 1. Under these conditions, the truck bolster (not shown) which carries the weight of the car and is supported by the spring group oscillates vertically thereon throughout the full maximum travel of the springs 10,

Patented May 29, 1956 inasmuch as the dowels 44 are maintained by the spring body 38 within the windows 48 at opposite sides of the washer 30, which is thus free to oscillate vertically with the bolt 20 without interference by the dowels 44.

It may also be noted that, under these service conditions, accidental disassembly of the height restrainer 36 or excessive rattling thereof due to vibrations commonly encountered in railway service is positively prevented, inasmuch as the ends 40 of the spring body 38 are sprung against the lateral walls 16 and overlap the outer edges thereof to positively interlock the height restrainer 36 with the bottom plate 4.

It will be understood that when it becomes desirable to remove the package group from supporting relationship with respect to the truck bolster, the retainer 36 with the spring group in compressed condition due to weight of the car body may be bent to the fully closedv position shown in Figure 1, with the ends 40 of the spring body 38 clamped together by the cotter pin 42, whereupon the car body may be raised from the truck bolster permitting the springs 10 to lock the retainer 36 in position, thereby maintaining the package in the required precompressed condition for easy removal from the truck.

Modification of the invention is illustrated in Figure 6, wherein parts corresponding to those of Figures 1 to 5 are identified by corresponding numerals, and it will be understood by a comparison of Figure 6 with Figure 1, that the modified device is substantially identical with that previously described, except that a U-shaped bar 50 is substituted for the height restrainer 36 utilized in the arrangement of Figures 1 to 4. It will be understood that under the conditions shown in Figure 6, the springs 10 which are precompressed between the plates 2 and 4, are eflective to clamp the bar 50 between the washer 30 and the wall 18, thereby limiting expansion of the package group. After the package group shown on Figure 6 has been assembled in the truck in supporting relationship with respect to the. car body, the springs 10 are further compressed to accommodate manual removal of the retainer bar 50, which may be replaced in the manner discussed in connection with the retainer 36.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising spaced spring plates having inturned flanges, a plurality of coil springs compressed between said plates and positioned by said flanges, a substantially horizontal ledge projecting from one of the plates externally of the flange, a housing having spaced substantially vertical lateral walls integrally formed with the flanges of the other plate, said housing comprising a substantially horizontal wall interconnecting said lateral walls, an opening in said horizontal wall, an elongated member rigidly secured to the ledge and projecting through said opening, an abutment fixed with respect to said member and facing the horizontal wall in said housing, and height restrainer means clamped by said springs on opposite sides of said member, said height restrainer means comprising compression dowels between the abutment and the horizontal wall, a

spring engaging said dowels and operative upon releasing of pressure against said dowels to eject same from between the abutment and horizontal wall.

2. A device, according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the lateral walls is provided with a window into which the height restrainer means is urged by the spring upon ejection of the height restrainer means from between the abutment and horizontal wall.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein the spring is resiliently deflected into substantially loop-like form, and removable means to maintain the spring in fixed position.

4. A device of the class described comprising spaced spring plates having inturned flanges, a plurality of coil springs compressed between said plates and positioned between said flanges, a substantially horizontal ledge projecting from one of said plates externally of its flange, a housing having spaced substantially vertical lateral walls integrally formed with the flanges of the plates, said housing comprising a substantially horizontal wall interconnecting said lateral walls, an opening through a horizontal wall, an elongated member rigidly secured to the ledge and projecting through said opening, an abutment secured to said member facing the horizontal wall within said housing, height restrainer means clamped by said springs between said abutment and said horizontal wall, said height restrainer means comprising an elongated spring body resiliently deflected with the ends closely adjacent each other and a plurality of compression dowels carried by said body and positioned between said abutment and said horizontal wall on opposite sides of said elongated member, and manually removable clamp means to clamp the ends of the spring body together.

5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the lateral walls of the housing are provided with windows adapted to receive said compression dowels under the action of said spring body upon removal of said clamp means and compression of the springs to release the compression dowels from between the abutment and the horizontal wall.

6. A device according to claim 5, in which the ends of said spring body extend in opposite directions across the outer edges of said lateral walls when said compression dowels are disposed in inoperative position within their respective windows.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 231,018 Davis Aug. 10, 1880.

688,490 Shea Dec. 10, 1901 1,310,909 Hackett July 22, 1919 1,641,719 Whitridge Sept. 6, 1927 1,813,706 Lewis July 7, 1931 2,038,673 Olander Apr. 28, 1936 2,077,966 Spence et'al Apr. 20, 1937 2,295,556 Flesch Sept. 15, 1942 2,695,167 Ramos et al. Nov. 23, 1954 

